TRAVEL HANOI Affectionately known as ‘Hanoisy’ for its constant symphony of motorbike horns, Hanoi immediately gets under your skin. We stayed in the Old Quarter, with its narrow streets, delicious pho (the quintessential Vietnamese noodle dish) on every corner and fellow tourists anxiously learning to dodge the traffic. We spent the day wandering the streets and enjoying the local beer while people-watching from six stories up, at the City View Café near the Ho Hoan Kiem Lake. We explored the French Quarter, with its majestic buildings including the Sofitel Metropole, famous for being the home of both foreign reporters and visiting celebrities protesting the war. Our first night was spent on a street food tour with local student ‘Gary’, who took all the worry out of finding the best places to eat, introducing us to Bun Cha, (skewers of marinated pork with vermicelli noodles and fresh herbs) and Nem Ran (mushroom spring rolls). Papaya salad with air dried beef was another new favourite, and amazingly after sampling all of this, we still had room for mushroom and pork pancakes (Banh Cuon) and dragon and jackfruit salad with coconut water jelly and condensed milk – another French influence. The final stop of our tour was a tiny rooftop bar overlooking the serene lake, hidden down a narrow alleyway and up five stories of wobbly spiral staircases. This is where the locals enjoy yet another Vietnamese institution, sweet iced coffee. The next day, an escape to the countryside took us to nearby Ninh Binh and Tam Coc where we were paddled by locals through the paddy fields framed by tall limestone mountains. This area was once the ancient capital of Vietnam and, as such, has seen its fair share of conflict, but is now peaceful but for the sound of locals beeping their horns at tourists riding bicycles for probably the first time since childhood. Dinner back in the city was once again happily spent on a busy sidewalk, our gangly knees struggling to fit on the tiny plastic chairs obviously not designed for tall westerners. We had Bun Cha again, too full to fit more in before calling it an early night with the rest of the city. I was surprised to find myself almost emotional that we were leaving Hanoi – the city really grows on you. We headed to Halong Bay, a slow four-hour drive north towards the Chinese border. We were met with rain and fog but the sheltered waters were a calm change from the city. The bay is littered with identical cruise boats, with all their passengers taking identical photos – but the natural beauty of the area surpassed the conveyer-belt feeling. We kayaked through caves and towering castes, learnt how to make Nem Ran (fried spring rolls) and made new friends. Our tour guide Huiu, or Mike as he introduced himself to foreigners, really made the trip, memorising every guest’s name and nationality even before we’d left the coach on the first day. He epitomised the Vietnamese people, with his enormous smile and neverwavering enthusiasm. 68 Pindara Magazine 2015\2016
Pindara Private Hospital Magazine - Issue Six
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